Sennheiser AMBEO 3D Soundbar A Major Challenger To Top End Bars

One of the great products to come out of this year’s CES is expensive and a real threat to products like the 24bit Bluesound soundbar, the all new Sennheiser AMBEO 3D soundbar.

Launched in Australia this week the soundbar is a major move away from their traditional products headphones.

We have played with this device on three occasions now and its real cracker despite the fact that it’s big and at $3,999 among the most expensive sound bars currently on sale in Australia, but the big question whether it’s worth the additional dollars.

With the simple press of an AMBEO button on the remote, one is instantly in another sound world when compared with the likes of Bluesound for the simple reason that it has four, rather than two, height channels that seriously push the boundaries of what Dolby Atmos soundbars are capable of.

Inside this big box and it is big at 13 drivers

(six woofers, five tweeters, and two top-firing speakers) and the back with a small LCD screen in the centre showing the current settings, also built in is Chromecast, Bluetooth and HDMI eARC/CEC, there is no Apple AirPlay.

The AMBEO supports Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and MPEG-H which is a 3D audio standard.

Using Upmix Technology, the Soundbar can also recreate stereo and 5.1 content in 3D.

Sennheiser has been making some of the world’s best headphones for decades but the challenge of making the world’s best soundbar was too much to pass up for the German sound Company.

The Sennheiser AMBEO is a monster- both in terms of looks and performance, weighing in at 18.5kilo the box is 126cm X 13.5 X 17.1 centimetres making it almost impossible to place in front of a TV as the RF sensor between a TV and a remote will get blocked.

According to Len Wallis of Len Wallis Audio, the new Sennheiser offering is an excellent solution for custom installers and people who want their large TVs wall mounted.

This is a soundbar that delivers Dolby Atmos sound like no other

The AMBEO Soundbar’s 13-driver configuration – comprised of six 4in long-throw woofers, five 1in alloy fabric dome tweeters and two further 3.5in top-firing drivers – is powered by virtualisation technology developed jointly with German Company Fraunhofer to offer 3D immersive audio in a single unit.

This is the first soundbar Company to offer this technology in Australia.

This technology is compatible with Dolby Atmos, MPEG-H and DTS:X, and is able to Upmix to 5.1 as well as simulate 3D sound or perform natively in stereo. Inputs include one HDMI eARC, three HDMI sockets, one optical and one aux (RCA) in.

At Sennheiser’s new store where the soundbar is set up in a purpose built room we were exposed to a variety of Dolby Atmos demos that we’ve heard on competing Soundbars such as the Bluesound bar.

Never have we heard anything that comes close to the immersive sound that this bar delivers especially when it came to bass output, it really felt like the sound was coming from behind and in front of you.

If anything, this is the same sound that one gets from a top end multi-speaker setup that will cost you triple what the new AMBEO sound bar costs.

The reason for that is that the AMBEO 3D Soundbar has four height channels

as opposed to the standard two found in most Dolby Atmos soundbars

Those extra two channels are put to work creating sound that appears to be coming from multiple directions.

Shortly Sennheiser will release a microphone that allows owners and custom installers to calibrate this entertainment offering.

How this works is that the microphone picks up a variety of test noises and use these to optimise the speaker setting it up for the perfect listening environment.

Out of the box, the Sennheiser AMBEO 3D Soundbar will feature five different pre-sets (movie, music, sports, news and neutral) that adjust not only the frequencies but also the 3D sound characteristics.

Conclusion

Sennheiser is one of those Companies that would not deliver a product to market unless that could deliver a superior sound experience.

The AMBEO is the result of several years of research and development and unlike Bluesound they have invested in marketing and have the brand name that is synonymous with quality which is that their new AMBEO soundbar delivers.

A simple flick of an AMBEO button on the remote takes one into a whole new world especially when it comes audio output which comes over crystal clear Vs several other premium soundbars which remain muffled.

At $3,999 this is a soundbar for the perfectionist or consumers who simply loves a great sound experience and appreciate the added value of Ultra High Definition 24bit sound.